Friday, May 12, 2017

Great Salt Lake

Recently I spent the evening at the Great Salt Lake.

I've been before
and I'll definitely go again.


I arrived just before sunset 
and found myself surrounded by hundreds of other people from my community.
Interesting experience being surrounded by strangers yet feeling such commonality.
Like we all belonged to this secret club that wanted to learn about the Great Salt Lake together.

Just after sunset Ranger Jim started the tour.
I was exponentially more fascinated than I anticipated.
Harbor Master Dave also gave me a private Q&A session.

Fun facts about the lake:
The deepest part of the Great Salt Lake is only 30 feet.
The ridge line along the mountains marks the previous depth of the lake.
Avian flu can spread rapidly because of the high density of migratory birds that visit the lake annually.
The Great Saltair used to be a fancy resort for tourists.
The lake is bigger than the states of Deleware and Rhode Island.
The north shore is a lot less restricted than the south shore.
One time a newspaper printed that whales live in the lake.
There is a portion of the lake that has red algae and pigments the water pink.
An island in the lake is home to one of the largest flocks of pelicans.
The lake is so big (75 miles x 40 miles) that it is actually considered an inland sea.
It is one of two lakes in the United States that creates lake effect drinking water for humans.
Jean Baptiste was a grave robber banished to Fremont Island who escaped, there is a documentary called Redemption based on his story.